12.17.2009

Memory Game Tutorial

Sewing toys has not really been my thing. It usually takes forever, involves hand sewing and my version never turns out quite as cute as the original (okay, not even close!). But this year, I decided to try again. Practice makes perfect, right?

And this time, I decided to do things MY way. Hee, hee!

Okay, to make this cute and fairly easy and quick memory game, you will need:

11 inches of fabric

11 inches of white muslin

freezer paper

22 inches Peltex Double-Sided Fusible Interfacing (extra stiff)

ink jet printer

and the normal sewing stuff,

thread

rotary cutter

pinking shears (optional)

scissors

iron

machine

First thing you need to do is run over to this blog, Crafterhours, for a little tutorial on printing on fabric. (It is SOOO fun and easier than I would have thought. Try it, you'll like it!)

Using Word, create a new document with as small of margins as possible. Create lines from the top of the document to the bottom at the following measurements: 1/4", 2 1/4", 4 1/4", 6 1/4" and 8 1/4". (Make sure you take into account the margins). Then, find whatever pictures you want for your memory game. I used random clip art pictures (there are lots of free clip art sites out there). It would also be fun to use family pictures, or I even thought you could use church-y pictures for a quiet game at church. Whatever you want.

Copy and paste your pictures on your document. Re-size them to 1-1.5 inches on the longest side. Place one in each column, approximately centered on the 1.5", 3.5", 5.5", 7.5", and 9.5" marks. We will adjust a little later.

Once you have twenty pictures (5 down each column), it is time to draw our vertical lines. (For some reason, when I put them in first, they would bounce around every time I added a pic. It is just easier to add them after.) Place them all the way across the page at the following measurements: 1/2", 2.5", 4.5", 6.5", 8.5", and 10.5". Now you can adjust the pictures a little so that they sit perfectly in your squares. Check your vertical lines again after your adjustments to make sure they haven't moved.

Once you are happy with your pictures, use your knowledge from the Crafterhours tutorial, and print two copies of your page. Then, using your same grid, copy and paste a new set of pics until you have as many as you want. I made a total of sixty, so on my third page, I made two of every picture instead of printing twice. (It takes a little patience and practice to get your fabric to print perfectly. A few of mine came out a little wonky-- no biggie! Just throw out that one and it's match.)

Cut your fabric (for the back side of your cards) to be 8.5 x 11 inches, and your Peltex as well. Peltex is amazing stuff! I have used it for so much and oh! the possibilities! It is a little pricey-- $7.99/yard at Joann's, if I remember right, but if you use a coupon, it only costs several dollars for 2/3 of a yard.

Now we are going to iron. Using your instructions for the Peltex, iron the back fabric on one side and the printed fabric on the other.

Time to sew. Stitch a quarter of an inch on each side of every line we made on our printed fabric, like so:

I tried to remember to do a little back-stitch as I crossed the other thread lines, but I don't know that it is really necessary. Once all the lines are stitched, use your rotary cutter and cut exactly on each of the lines.

I then trimmed each of mine with pinking shears, but that is optional.

Make a cute little bag to store them in and done! Time to test out your thinking skills.